We have posted a Korean-language essay by Dr. Sun Gun Lee, the Director of the Korean Language Center of New York (which is affiliated with the Korean Culture Research, Inc.). He is also the Executive Director of the Korean Language Association, and the former President of the National Association for Korean Schools, Northeast Chapter. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Korean literature at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and he received his Ph.D. in linguistics from Ankara University in Turkey in 1973.

After he came to the United States in 1975, Dr. Lee has worked tirelessly to teach the Korean language to U.S.-born Korean Americans and to non-Korean Americans. In particular, he has taught Korean language and customs to many Korean adoptees and U.S.-born Korean adults who have faced discrimination from fellow Koreans because of their lack of mother-tongue fluency. He has been able to do this with little monetary compensation for nearly forty years because of his strong love and affinity towards the Korean language. Among his many contributions to Korean language education, he has worked hard to promote the Korean language in American high schools and has participated in making Korean textbooks. In 2004, he also established the Korean Heritage School of Adoptees. As the name of the school suggests, it focuses on expanding Korean language and cultural education for young Korean adoptees. In this essay, Dr. Lee describes these experiences as a Korean language teacher in great detail.